1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a closure for a cap and container. In particular, the present invention pertains to a cap and container where the cap is integrally formed with a trigger sprayer housing and the cap and container have a four thread closure that attaches the cap to the container by a quarter turn of the cap relative to the container, and where the cap also has locking tabs that snap over detents on the container and hold the cap securely to the container preventing unintended separation of the cap from the container.
2. Description of the Related Art
A trigger sprayer typically comprises a sprayer housing containing a pump chamber, a liquid supply passage communicating with the pump chamber, and a liquid discharge passage communicating with the pump chamber. A dip tube is connected to the liquid supply passage and is extended into the liquid of a container, such as a bottle, when the trigger sprayer is attached to the container to provide fluid communication between the liquid of the container and the trigger sprayer pump. A manually manipulated trigger is mounted on the sprayer housing for pivoting movement. A piston is received in the pump chamber for reciprocating movement and is operatively connected to the trigger, whereby the piston will reciprocate in the pump chamber in response to manual pivoting movement of the trigger. A nozzle is provided at the discharge end of the discharge passage for spraying liquid pumped into the pump chamber through the dip tube and supply passage, and then pumped out of the pump chamber through the discharge passage by the pivoting movement of the trigger.
Many prior art trigger sprayers were attached to their liquid containers by an internally threaded cap that is mounted to the sprayer housing to permit rotational movement of the cap relative to the housing. In order to firmly secure the trigger sprayer on the liquid container, the cap typically would be provided with a single spiraling thread in its interior surface that mated with a complimentary thread provided on the exterior of the container neck. Several revolutions of the cap relative to the trigger sprayer housing and the container were needed to securely attach the trigger sprayer to the container. This prior art method of attaching a trigger sprayer to a liquid container provided a secure closure between the trigger sprayer cap and the container neck that would hold the trigger sprayer stationary relative to the container in its adjusted position and prevent any rocking movement of the trigger sprayer relative to the container when the trigger of the sprayer is operated.
In the production of products contained in liquid containers that employ trigger sprayers of the above-described type in dispensing the products, trigger sprayers would be assembled onto liquid filled containers in a production line. The assembly of the trigger sprayers onto the liquid containers would often require two separate specially designed machines. The first machine would move the trigger sprayer downwardly toward the liquid filled container in a precise movement and insert the dip tube of the sprayer through the container opening while positioning the cap of the sprayer at the top of the container neck. The second machine would then rotate the cap several revolutions while the first machine held the trigger sprayer stationary in its desired orientation relative to the liquid container. Alternatively, an additional portion of the second machine would hold the trigger sprayer stationary while the cap is rotated. These two production steps required elaborately designed machines which at times would perform less than adequately, often making it necessary to manually tighten the trigger sprayer caps on the container necks to ensure they seal properly.
The complexities involved in assembling rotating cap trigger sprayers to the necks of liquid-filled containers resulted in the development of trigger sprayers having bayonet connectors. The basic difference of the bayonet connectors was that instead of employing a screw thread in the cap interior that required the cap to be rotated several times to attach the trigger sprayer to the liquid container neck, the bayonet connector could be moved downwardly onto the container neck and then turned less than one complete turn to securely snap-fit the bayonet connector on the container neck. For some bayonet connectors no rotary movement was necessary and the connector would snap onto the container neck at the end of its downward movement. As a result of the development of the bayonet connector, a single machine could be provided on the production line to move the trigger sprayer downwardly onto the container neck and then rotate the trigger sprayer a fraction of a complete turn to secure the trigger sprayer housing to the container neck.
However, several designs of bayonet connectors were disadvantage in that they did not provide the secure connection between the trigger sprayer and the liquid container provided by the engagement of complimentary screw threads of the trigger sprayer cap and container neck. Bayonet connectors would often permit the trigger sprayer to rock from side to side on the container neck when in use. Also, the prior art design of bayonet connectors often required several openings formed through the connectors that detracted from their appearance. As a result, trigger sprayers employing bayonet connectors were not seen as being desirable or comfortable to use by consumers as trigger sprayers employing a rotating cap closure.
The disadvantages of prior art trigger sprayers discussed above could be overcome by a closure for a cap and a container that enables the cap to be assembled onto the container neck without requiring the cap to be rotated several times in assembling it to the neck, yet still provides a secure connection between the cap and container neck that prevents rocking of the cap relative to the container.